Pros/cons/info about Ogden area (Salt Lake City, Roy: ski resort, rental, movie theaters)

[mattsk42]

Thinking of moving in about a month and we don't know a whole lot about it.

What are the "must see" things in this area?
Best place to live?
Best way to commute to SLC?
Areas that are good to rent in/bad?
Activities?
What do most people do and average age?
Events?

Differences from SLC in general?

[markg91359]

Originally Posted by mattsk42

Thinking of moving in about a month and we don't know a whole lot about it.

What are the "must see" things in this area?
Best place to live?
Best way to commute to SLC?
Areas that are good to rent in/bad?
Activities?
What do most people do and average age?
Events?

Differences from SLC in general?

1. Must see things: Dinosaur Park; Snow Basin Ski Resort; Ogden Valley; and Hill Air Force Base Aircraft Museum.

2. Best Place to Live: Avoid Ogden City. Live instead in South Ogden, North Ogden, Roy, Riverdale, Pleasant View, West Haven, or Plain City.

3. Best way to commute: Probably by automobile on I-15. The train "Front Runner" is worth considering depending on where you live. Its route makes it impractical for many people to use it though. Its not a good option for those living in South Ogden.

4. Areas that are good to rent: I'd need to know more about your rental budget. Off the top of my head, I'm inclined to suggest Roy or Riverdale.

5. Activities: Skiing in the winter; hiking in the summer; possible swimming and boating at Pine View Reservoir; and kayaking at a special water park west of the viaduct in Ogden on 24th Street.

6. What most people do? I'm not certain what you mean. Are you asking about work? Average age is on the young side because Utah families have more children than average.

7. Events: Hof Winter Festival in January in downtown Ogden. July 24th parade in Ogden and rodeo. Farmers Markets during autumn months in downtown Ogden. Christmas Village in the property adjacent to the Municipal Building during the month of December.

8. Differences from Salt Lake. Slower pace. Smaller community. The average person probably has less education that in Salt Lake. Blue collar community. Salt Lake has a much greater selection of restaurants and stores. Downtown Salt Lake is in much better shape than downtown Ogden.

[elcee499]

Here's some things to know about Ogden:
- It has repeatedly been featured on the "best-places lists" over the last decade.
- Wall Street Journal called Ogden "a playground for adrenaline junkies"
- Last month, Forbes ranked it #3 on the list of "best places to raise a family".

Must sees and Activities - Skip the Dinosaur Park unless its an outing for the kiddos. It won't take long to check out the downtown area - Spend an afternoon visiting Union Station and its museums, stroll up 25th street, and check out the Junction, a relatively new entertainment complex with restaurants, movie theaters, a vertical wind tunnel, climbing wall, and indoor surfing. But, the best things to see and do are outdoors and all around you! Outdoor activities include golf, fishing, rafting, kayaking, camping, hiking, sky-diving, rock climbing, mountain biking, 4-wheeling, skiing, snow-shoeing, snow-mobiling, snow-boarding, boating and waterskiing at Pineview Reservoir and Willard Bay, etc, etc... Also, the Ogden Raptors minor-league baseball team plays in a very nice downtown stadium.

Best Place to Live: In Ogden City, I'd stay above Harrison and south of 12th As far as surrounding communities, I'd keep to the bedroom communities east of I-15, such as South Ogden, Riverdale, Uintah, Washington Terrace or South Weber. North Ogden is about a hour-long drive to Salt Lake - a bit far for a regular commute.

What People Do: I assume you mean jobs. One of the major employers in the Ogden area is the US government - the IRS has a large facility there, and Hill AFB is just south of the city. Weber State University and the Intermountain Health Care chain that operates McKay Dee Hospital also employ a lot of people. There is agriculture and some manufacturing, but I would not call it blue-collar. Median age (per city-data) is 29.6.

Differences from Salt Lake - Demographically, there are some significant differences between the cities (Salt Lake City and Ogden City), but not so much if you look at the larger population of Weber County vs. Salt Lake County. Ogden has less traffic, fewer nightspots, and lacks any high-end retail. It may have better air quality - Salt Lake has higher levels of Pm10 and Pm2.5 particulates.

[mattsk42]

Thanks to both replies! We're for sure moving to the area so we will check those out. What is boating/beach actually like on either Willard or Pineview? Which is better?

Any good non-LDS churches to check out?

[mattsk42]

Thanks for the great advice. We've now been here a year and are enjoying all the things you guys listed.

Totally agree on almost everything typed in this thread's replies. We live in South Ogden and have done most of those activities.

[Montygirl]

how do you find the commute and did you find a good non lds church?

[mattsk42]

Commute is nothing compared to my one in Minnesota. Contrary to popular belief here (of native Utahns), the drivers are great. EVERYONE speeds, so the flow is fast, and they leave tons of space between cars compared to MN. I've only seen a couple of real crashes in the year I've been here, and have yet to slam on my brakes (like, for real slam on them), which would happen weekly back in the cities. The whole metro of SLC is not very big compared to real cities.

No great church yet. There are some good quality ones around, but most are too happy and over the top for us. Just not into the whole holding hands praise band thing with guy in bright pink shirt and Britney microphone. Some of the smaller ones are ok, but they don't have any programs going on other than the church service.

[Montygirl]

lol, I know what you mean Mattsk42 about the happy thing, we have the same in the UK depending on where you go and being from quite a secular society it is a bit too in your face. Glad the commute is good, I find the traffic (or lack of ) a doddle compared to what I am used to and as you say the roads move well. I think as you say not much tailgating which is useful when someone doesn't necessarily obey the lane discipline but do get that in a lot of places. Glad has all worked out well and enjoying Utah life, its great isn't it :-)